Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 6 *

My work was satisfying. I found the crews who worked in the forest hardworking and friendly. Brenden was funny and had a canny knack for understanding the animals who were our true bosses.

Marcus was a bit of a snob, but he cared for the forest that we all strived to take care of. Ceren was a genius. She found ways to make boring displays about the forest fun and engaging for the school children who came on tour. I wish she had been running the tours when I first came to the center in 3rd grade; then I wouldn't have wandered off and gotten lost.

Mindy was a conundrum. She loved animals but didn't seem to care about humans as much. She was friendly to me when people were around, but she treated me like an unwanted guest if it was just us. She was currently busy dealing with calving season for the local deer herd that stayed in our forest. I had asked her once why our deer herd was so large, and she had sardonically replied that certain predators kept things safe for the deer.

"What kind of predators keep deer safe?" I inquire.

The look Mindy gave me held a smirk as if I were clueless. I'm new to the job, so of course, I don't know every quirk of this place. This woman is starting to get on my nerves.

"Who do you think?" she turned her back to me, making it clear she was done talking to me. I left her office feeling insulted. I'm not stupid, but this place doesn't work how I'm used to things working. How often do people take work orders from animals? Sure, perhaps a tiger, wolf, coyote, and eagle can keep predators away but wouldn't they then hunt them for themselves? Somebody has to be eating these deer, or else our population would be out of control. I don't understand how this all works yet, and I still don't know what Bangtan Group does since the animals seem to be making the calls here and while they are conspicuously absent.

Those animals were also making themselves known to me. It never failed that I had at least a visitor or two at the end of each evening. The coyote, rabbit, and owl were my most frequent visitors. I didn't bother mentioning it to anyone. I wasn't about to get into a popularity contest over my visitors.

After dinner, the others invited me to join them as they went to a club in town. I resisted their urgings and retired to my room. I like to party as much as anyone else, but a bunch of drunk losers settling for a night of bad sex vs. mystery animals with gem-like eyes. No contest.

I sat on my patio watching the forest, waiting for them to visit. I listened to the wind blow through the trees and watched the tops of the trees sway in the wind. The smell of evergreens filled the air, and the stars peeked out from the dark expanse to fill the sky. The moon was only three-quarters full and dulled the stars near it. It would be full in another week. I loved walking in forests on full moons. The light cutting through the dark trees gave the forest a magical quality that I loved. So far, I could not get the animals to join me on a night walk through the forest. I admit it, I may be a scientist, but I'm a romantic at heart. My library is a nice collection of romantic fairytales. I didn't care if it was gothic or fluffy; I loved it all. And the idea of a midnight walk through a magical forest with magical animals appealed to the romantic girl inside me. Just don't expect me to break out into song.

I wonder if I could get the animals to take a walk with me then?

I laugh at my silly thoughts. I bet nobody would expect the serious scientist was secretly daydreaming about her own Disney movie, especially when she can't sing. Heh.

When a rustle diverts my attention in the bushes, I smile to myself, and a cute nose sticks itself out to sniff the area. The muzzle that follows belongs to a Golden Retriever, and I smile as the friendly dog pokes its head out after checking to smell if the coast is clear.